


Always You

by Scriptor



Category: Raised by Wolves (TV 2020)
Genre: F/M, Sappy, space dreams
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:47:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26903107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scriptor/pseuds/Scriptor
Summary: What dreams may come... aboard the Ark on its way to Kepler-22b
Relationships: Caleb | Marcus Drusus/Mary | Sue Drusus
Kudos: 3





	Always You

**Author's Note:**

> OK so, obviously everyone is new to this fandom but I beg forgiveness for some of the gaps in tech understanding. Who the heck knows how the sim actually works. I'm spitballing here. Also, I almost always write, well, smut. This is legit the first fic I wrote that doesn't end up in racy situations. But I really felt drawn to Marcus and Sue and despite the way the series ended, I liked this idea.

Thirteen years didn’t _sound_ like a long time to be on a ship, especially when given the alternative of staying on a now defunct planet. Living conditions had deteriorated to nearly nothing on earth, and the Ark was the last hope. Having safely stowed away, albeit as imposters, Mary and Caleb got to breathe a slight bit of relief when the ship took flight and they were bound for a new planet. But thirteen years _was_ insanely long and it was only a couple year cycles before Mary, er, Sue began to feel trapped, restless, agitated. Even in hyperbaric sleep state, her mind felt caged and ready to flee at a moment’s notice. Typical of someone who had only known pain, fighting, and the despair of war. Add onto that having to be someone she really wasn't. Sometimes in her simulation, she would imagine what she could have become if earth hadn’t been torn apart by the war. What the future would have held for her and even Marcus. In the sim, they got that glimpse when they began to interact with their accidentally adopted son, Paul. Had she ever imagined children? Perhaps. But since all hope of having her own had been lost after a bad miscarriage, this child was a blessing in disguise. Having conversations and interactions with Paul brought about emotions she’d never even thought to entertain before, when you lived minute by minute, thinking of nothing else but survival. And the eradication of Believers.

In the sim, one had the opportunity to study, to become something. So she engaged in medical texts and hands on experience. Once the MD was under her belt, she turned to programs about motherhood and found herself wrapped up in the Earth’s history. In one of her favorite simulations, she and Marcus lived in an idyllic upper middle class neighborhood. A two story brick home with a two car garage, beautiful curb appeal, a Japanese maple just to the left of a cornflower blue front door. Because you could dial up just about any image in the sim, she let her imagination flow, pleased and nearly giddy at the fact her mind was still able to conjure a happy thought. Her prior life having been painted in only shades of black, dark blues and grays. Here in her dreams, the colors were warm and vibrant. Orange daylilies lined a walkway around the side of the home, leading to an open deck with an umbrella and chairs; ice cold lemonades on a glass patio table. Just beyond, a rectangular pool where Paul got to play with friends on funny shaped floats. She and Marcus sipped cool drinks and watched on with pride as they basked in the glory of having accomplished all this. In each dream, Marcus looked as he does now; she could barely remember what Caleb’s face looked like before. No, that was a lie she told herself because it was too painful to remember Mary and Caleb as they were. And perhaps even more painful - if she was being completely honest - to think about the exact moment they murdered Marcus and Sue and took on their identities, only to then realize she had inadvertently orphaned Paul - for the second time - as someone else to to them first. The guilt pained her each and every day.

So this was who she was now and she embraced _Sue_. After the average American homeowner storyline dimmed in its newness, she took to experiencing other scenarios, and oddly enough they all took on very similar aspects. Marcus was always there, of course. 

In the majority of the spaces they inhabited with Paul, his consciousness was present as well. In these personal dreams of hers though, it was just him as she imagined him, as she let her imagination run wild as the sim facilitated that.

Sometimes they were high-powered attorneys or stock brokers; sometimes they were a power couple in charge of a huge real estate firm, buying and selling property and when not engaged in amassing millions, they sun bathed on pink sand beaches in tropical locales. By the light of an orange setting sun, they made love with no other care in the world. The sim took your desires and wishes and curated them into complex situations that felt as real as any lived experience. It took Sue a little while to really become accustomed to the feeling of it, since the realistic and pessimistic side of her brain begged her to believe that this was, in fact, all fiction. But the sim was powerful and the emotions so real, she could let herself get lost in the story. 

Because you had some control over the way the sim operated, she created these dreams herself until the ideas began to run thin. In autopilot mode, the sim took over and curated the experience for you. On this particular day, Sue entered the simulation to find herself in a little black dress; she’d read about these in her studies. ‘The clothing item every woman should own!’ said the magazines. She glanced down at herself, poured into this tight fabric binding and nodded in approval. She looked classy, feminine, sexy even. Then she took in her surroundings: clearly a gala of some type: well-dressed people of all colors and social statuses mingled amongst high top tables set with candles and fancy centerpieces. Coattailed waiters served champagne flutes and canapes, bustling here and there to keep guests full and drunk. She noted a banner at the front of the large room: In Honor of Victor Bradwell. Whoever that is, she thought to herself. Then a tap on her shoulder got her attention. “Ms. Bradwell, I do so hope you’re enjoying the evening.” The man speaking was just the kind of man she imagined carried out clandestine mergers and stole money from his employees on the downlow. He had a thin moustache and shaky hands and gave her the creeps.

“Oh yeah, very much.” she answered, playing the game.

“Your father has done so much for TransPacific Industries; we could never truly show him just how grateful we all are.”

Ahh, ok, her dad was some kind of industry mogul. Got it. No wonder this whole thing reeked of money. She quickly got rid of the slimeball beside her and flitted towards the bar, seeking alcoholic sustenance. She ordered a Tom Collins and scanned the room, wondering why the sim dialed up this kind of adventure this time; how did this play into any of her innermost desires? Then Sue realized what was going on, at least in some way. Across the crowded room, in a perfectly tailored black suit and a glaring crimson tie, she saw Marcus. The blue of his eyes so striking, she wondered if she’d never truly seen them before. They locked gazes and she felt dizzy just to be in his presence. It was as if nothing else in the room existed in that moment. An electricity sizzled between them, even at this distance.

She felt drawn towards him, moving as if not under her own power. She wove her way through men and women, pushing them aside even as she got closer and closer to where he leaned ever so casually against a wall.

“Hello” he greeted. His voice was softer than she imagined it might be; not gruff or unnecessarily deep.

“Hi…” she said, insinuating she wanted his name. In the sim, he declared his name as Caleb and that threw her brain for a loop. In every instance, he was always Marcus.

“Mary” she replied and he took her hand carefully and brought it to his mouth, placing a gentle kiss to her knuckles. She remembered reading about gestures of chivalry in centuries long since past and this struck her as both intimate and a way to show reverence.

“You are Bradwell’s daughter, right?” 

“Indeed.”

“Never met the guy; I hear he’s tops though.” he said, making small talk seem important somehow. They exchanged a few more trivialities, about the people around, the garish wallpaper coating the ballroom, and how weak the bartender made the Tom Collins. Their banter was comfortable and familiar and just slightly tinged with flirtation. She felt electrified by it and even more so when he brushed her hand with his when a waiter shuffled by and forced them slightly to the side. Just as he pulled back, they looked at one another again and she felt the most compelling desire to lean up and kiss his full lips. The connection was broken when a large brutish man fell unceremoniously into them, apologizing profusely. Sue hated situations like this and was discombobulated momentarily until she found herself being accosted and dragged away from Marcus, whose face was now obstructed by a second brute and she watched him become smaller as her kidnapper made his way to the double doors of a back room. Marcus shouted her name just as she disappeared from the crowded room.

Within the sim, Sue found it interesting that she essentially had two tabs open in her mind: the one where she was fully immersed in this “movie”; where she was actively being taken away to locations unknown by faceless captors. The second being her present subconscious, repeatedly questioning the validity of the computer conjuring up just such a scenario. In a way, she was helpless to fight it - the reality of it felt too thrilling and exhilarating to abort. 

Sue struggled within her captor’s beefy arms but it was no use; they were a tight grip she could not escape.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way, miss,” the man grumbled out.

Sue went slack and allowed her body to be drug towards a car and as the man threw her inside like a ragdoll, he also bashed her unconscious and things went dark.

As she came to, her surroundings came into focus like the curtains had been pulled back. She was certainly in a small room, maybe 8 by 8, and she was tied to a chair. Arms and legs bound by heavy ropes that abraded her skin. The headache from the prior attack pounded in waves, causing her to feel tired and disoriented. One measly light hung above her in the tiny room and the only sound was the incessant ticking of a clock. Ticks went by, seconds, minutes and she say there, becoming more aware of sounds. It seemed someone paced outside. A man cleared his throat; another spoke to him in hushed tones. She drifted in and out of sleep, even in her bound state, until a muffled scuffle roused her. Two male voices shouted at one another and then the door burst open, revealing the shrouded silhouette of someone who did not resemble her captors.

“We will cut to the chase; you are my prisoner and I seek a ransom. Do you think daddy will pay?” The villain’s voice dripped with disgust and Sue took note that she was both scared and amused; what a very interesting game this was indeed. The man approached and his visage brightened in the light. He was scarred badly on his face - much in the way Marcus was but she did not find him attractive. He sneered and suddenly grabbed her chin, pulling her to face him. 

“I need information from your father and I feel like you’re a good enough trade; it’s gonna take some money too but he’s got plenty, doesn’t he?”

“I don’t know.” she mumbled. Sue admitted that she was actually afraid; her adrenaline kicking in and heart racing. In her subconscious mind, she yearned for this exercise to end then realized that the sim allowed for an emergency disconnect. But she couldn’t quite bring herself to pull the plug. Just in time, she heard the familiar voice; the one who saved her from living on deteriorated streets, from necromancers and Believers’ gunfire. Marcus made quick work of the grunts in the hall and pushed his way into the tiny space, grabbing the other man by the coat lapels and slamming him into the wall.

To say she was relieved was an understatement and his declaration solidified why time and again she found herself in debt to this man. After he’d taken care of her captors, Marcus approached her and took to unfastening her bonds.

“Come on, let’s get you out of here.” he said and as he pulled her to standing, she leaned into him, seeking the safety of his embrace. His form felt familiar, safe, like home. She looked up into his eyes and their lips finally met, a breathless kiss that had her heart pounding and her body going limp within his strong arms.

Sue couldn’t determine why the sim suddenly ended, just when things were starting to get good but just after Marcus stopped kissing her silly, she realized that the program terminated and she was back to the regular sleep-state where she, Paul, and Marcus spent time together. As she materialized to the scene, Marcus gave her a weird look.

“What have you been up to?” He sounded oddly suspicious but there was a hint of knowing to his question.

Sue sauntered over to where he sat near Paul playing with blocks on the floor.

“Well, if you must know, I was having a very… sexy dream.”

“Oh, is that so?” Marcus asked, his smile quirking upward.

“Indeed. Oh, and you were there.”

“Was I?” He feigned surprise.

“Of course. You always are.” she replied, a sobering tone. Because it was true. He was always there and she felt he might always be in some way. He was, after all, her savior.


End file.
